TOULOUSE OLYMPIQUE would have “waited until midnight” for the arrival of Doncaster, whose delayed flight almost wrote off Saturday’s fixture.

The South Yorkshire side were left waiting at Birmingham Airport after striking air traffic controllers caused chaos in the skies over Europe.

The crunch clash was postponed from its original 6pm slot to 8pm, and then delayed by another hour to allow for the travel troubles, eventually taking place and resulting in a hard-fought 12-6 win for Toulouse.

The match had been switched from the Olympians’ regular home base to Colomiers rugby union ground because of work at Stade Ernest Wallon.

The unexpected bonus was that Stade Michel Bendichou is closer to the city airport.

“It was a difficult day for Doncaster but full credit, they made it,” said a Toulouse spokesman.

“We would have waited until midnight for them because we know exactly what it is like to experience travel difficulties.

“We have been doing this for some time now and sometimes things are out of your control, and you just have to deal with it.”